Arby Wigness
July 23, 1923 — July 26, 2014
Arby E. Wigness
July 23, 1923 – July 26, 2014
Resident of Salt Lake City, UT
Passed away peacefully, at age 91 in his home in Salt Lake City.
Born in Minneota, MN, and grew up on the family farm outside town. He was an athlete at the local High School – starring in both football and basketball. Arby left college and went to fight in WWII – he was a combat paratrooper and made jumps into Germany as part of Operation Varsity at the end of that war. Following the war, he and wife Lee, stopped in northern Utah and ended up staying and raising a family. He worked at Hill Air Force Base as a Logistics Specialist and took early retirement in 1973 After their divorce in 1986 he moved to Reno, NV and resided there for 25 years, enjoying his retirement playing tennis, craps at the local casinos, and beating all comers at the pool table. The last 3 years he’s resided in Salt Lake City, Utah at Canyon Creek dependent care facility, and under the watchful eye of daughter Valerie, who lives close by.
Arby was a great father, friend, athlete, pilot, story teller and pool shark; he was loved by all who knew him. He is survived by his former spouse Leona (Lee) Wigness, and children, Terry (Donna), Ricky, Mark (Val), Valerie (Paul), and Carole (Todd), along with 14 grandchildren, and 14 great grandchildren, spread across Utah, Colorado, and California. Also great friends from Reno, Emil Milosavljevic and Ljiljana Solujic.
Services were held on Saturday, August 2 nd at the Utah Veterans Cemetery and Memorial Park in Bluffdale, Utah.